Banjo



(No odei) W. R WOOD- BANJO. No. 394.530. Patented Dec. 11, 1888.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IVALLAC E R. \VOOD, OF (TI'IICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BANJO.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 394,530, dated December11, 1888.

Application filed April 3Q, 1888. Serial No. 272,365. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, 'ALLACE R. \VOOD, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinut for thethumb-string which is described in and secured to me by Letters Patentissued to me by the United States numbered 370,172, dated September 20,1387, for improvements in banjos,) of which the following is aspecifieation.

The object of this invention is to simplify the use of the movable restfor the thumb string of a banjo and to render it easily adjustable, sothat it may be readily placed at any desired point 011 the finger-boardand thus change the key or pitch of the string at will withoutinterfering with the tension of said string.

My present invention consists of a thin strip of metal or any othersuitable material, a in Figure 1 of the annexed drawings, laid upon andfastened to the surface of the fingerboard of a banjo, under and in lineof the thumb-string, the edges of which strip are beveled toward theunder side, as shown by the cross-section thereof, a in Fig. 2. The baseof the movable rest 0, Fig. 4, is bent so as to loosely clasp thebeveled edges of the said strip, as shown by the cross-seetion of thesame in position on the strip at d, Fig. 3, permittin g the piece tomove freely back and forth along said strip when carrying thethumbstring in position, and thus to be readily adj ustable at the willof the player. Instead of this beveled strip carrying the movable restor nut, it is evident that the latter may be made to run in a beveledgroove cut in the finger-board under and in line of the thumb string,the base of the rest or nut being titted therein, as shown in Fig. 5; orthe strip may be made so as to clasp the rest or nut by the edges beingturned upward and inward and the base of the rest or nut being beveledto fit therein, as shown in Fig. 0.

It is obvious that the same result will be secured by either mode ofconstruction-to wit, the ready and perfect :uljustability of the rest ornut to any key or pitch of the thumb-string without clmnging itstension-- and that any one of said modes of construction is merely anequivalent for either of the others. I have found that, for cheapness ofconstruction and ready adaptation to instruments already made the stripand nut, as first above described, are preferable, while for beauty offinish in making new instruments probably the groove may be mostdcsirable.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a banjo, the slide a, for carrying the adjustable rest or nut rforthe thumb-string, constructed to operate substantially as described.

2. In a banjo, the combiimtimi of the adjustable rest or nut c with theslide a, constructed and operating substantially as described.

Dated this 20th day of April, A. I). 185 8.

WALLACE R. WOOD.

'itnesses:

LOUIS P. ScovILLE, J. B. SANBORN, KATE S. HOLMES.

